David Kelly's fellow weapons inspector Olivia Bosch, who spoke to the scientist daily during the Iraq war, said he was shocked by BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan's attempts to elicit information from him.

She also claimed Dr Kelly said his MoD bosses had reprimanded him about the BBC story and he feared his pension and security clearance would be affected.

Journalist, Tom Mangold told the inquiry the scientist had thought the claim Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes was "risible".

The first stage of the inquiry is now adjourned and phase two starts on 15 September.

What are your views of the inquiry so far?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received:

I am actually slightly baffled as to what exactly the enquiry is seeking to achieve. Is it an enquiry into the death of Dr Kelly (as I believed it to be), or is it an investigation into the government's decision to go to war? I fear that this enquiry has been held not out of any respect for Dr Kelly and his family or out of any sense of moral duty, but rather to give the media what it wants, a chance to discredit the government. We can never know exactly what drove Dr Kelly to take his life and consequently the enquiry cannot reach many solid conclusions on what it professes to be investigating. The consequences of the enquiry will be purely political. Liz, UK

Lord Hutton deserves a great deal of praise for the way he is handling this inquiry

Katherine,
US

I was extremely pleased to learn of the Hutton Inquiry. While I am saddened that it was the resolve of a good man's death, questions about the war need to be asked. Lord Hutton deserves a great deal of praise for the way he is handling this inquiry. My only hope is that this may open the door for the possible impeachment hearing over President Bush's own "sexing up" of pre-war speeches. Finally, I must thank the BBC for covering the Hutton Inquiry so well. If only the American press would begin covering this story.
Katherine,
US

Dr Kelly abused his position and lost any moral high ground by speaking to the press (a whole gang of them by the looks of things) without authority and in breach of his contract. The man in my view was untrustworthy and liability in his role, he also obviously has a strong desire to be seen as important hence his entertaining the press. It's a shame he's gone but the mess he has left behind should be forgotten so our government can get back to running the country. Bryan, England

I think there is a great need for a much wider inquiry; which should investigate the way in which this Blair Govt. took us to war. We now see what many of us feared that there was little or no real evidence and that the govt has committed UK troops to an illegal and immoral war. Blair and all the officials involved should be tried for war crimes, after all 40,000 Iraqi civilians died in the "Pre-emptive Strikes" to "protect" US/UK from "attack". Yet we have no evidence showing any such imminent threat or even any WMDs! Musa, UK

Whatever the outcome, I feel relieved that there is the inquiry. It is a valid question which deserves an answer in a true democracy. I wish the US would undertake a similar process; their present regime cannot be considered as democratic in both foreign and domestic policies. Their nuisance potential has no equivalent in the world. Michel, Geneva, Switzerland

Don't you think this is a little curious?

Colin, England

Dr Kelly wrote in his e-mails that he was preparing to go to Baghdad and was looking forward to it all blowing over the following week. This does not strike me as man who took his life three hours later. Don't you think this is a little curious? The whole thing stinks, with the government holding the strings, no one will get a straight answer out of this enquiry. Colin, England

The BBC has veered so far off course in terms of accuracy that it is hard to know where to start. Governments are not supposed to monitor the media; the media should be monitoring government. The investigation is fully in order, not least because the service pollutes international news organisations with its bias as well as the British market. Freda Saul, US

I believe the inquiry is going well, except that I do not believe Prime Minister Blair will be punished nor will he step down because he has others who will take the fall and be punished for him.
Srbismrde Odmjeseca,
UK (ex-Srbia-Montenegro)

I lit two candles; one for Dr Kelly's soul and one for his beloved family

Adelma Longton,
Perth, Australia

I was deeply touched and moved by Dr Kelly's fate. I went to Church and in my most sincere faith, respect and devotion I lit two candles; one for Dr Kelly's soul and one for his beloved family: may God give them comfort and blessings.
Adelma Longton,
Perth, Australia

There is a strange symmetry about this affair that I'm surprised no one has made much of. The BBC's (Gilligan's) report was based upon a single source who turned out perhaps not to be as close to the action as we were lead to believe but hey presto so was the government's claim about the 45 minute readiness. And the justification used by each (that a single source was OK if high ranking and reliable enough) was virtually identical. It seems both were in the business of turning molehills into mountains and not really succeeding. Robert, UK

So far, the Hutton inquiry into the death of Dr Kelly has shown there is and was no clear threat to the world caused by Saddam Hussein's WMD, and that very few people are willing to stand up and say that Prime Minister Blair led Britain into a groundless, therefore reprehensible war against Iraq. I thought Mrs Kelly and her daughter were magnificent; thank goodness they spoke from the heart, and spoke truly.
Mary Mackie,
Canada

I have been following this "trial" with interest and nothing will emerge which we did not already know - and certainly there will be no charges brought. Whether Gilligan embellished the story is no longer the issue (sadly neither is Dr Kelly's death). It is whether the government can be believed in anything they publish. Has this episode undermined their credibility? It is time to let the people choose if the government still has their support - if they do, then we have to accept that we will always be told what they want to tell us. It will also be a warning to future governments that no matter your majority, you need to be trusted. Stuart, UK

We had to go to war to get rid of Saddam Hussein

Lyn Edwards, UK

I think this whole thing has been a waste of time and money from the beginning. Did it really matter if the BBC sexed up the report or if anybody sexed up the report? We had to go to war to get rid of Saddam Hussein. It is so pathetic that in this country we have to have an inquiry into this, an inquiry into that. What a waste of time, money and emotion. Let's just forget the inquiries and get on with living. Lyn Edwards, UK

To Lyn who thinks that this inquiry is a waste of time any money; would she care to say that to the family of Dr Kelly or the US and UK servicemen? An estimated 40,000 Iraqis died during this illegal invasion, including up to 10,000 civilians.
Phil Roberts,
Surrey

As someone who lost both parents to suicide when I was 15 I would like to offer my heartfelt sympathy to Dr Kelly's family and friends. From what little I know, this husband and father was an honourable man who was as successful in his work as he was dedicated to his family. His family have much to be proud of and have shown themselves to be dignified and determined during what I know is such a difficult time. My heart goes out them all. I hope they can find peace in the future. Anon, Spain

Dr Kelly seems to have been a dedicated public servant whose values that gave him the strength and objectivity to do his work were completely incomprehensible to either the MOD or the government. If there are any honourable people in this whole affair they should hang their heads in shame, and publicly at that. David Brearley, UK

Whether the BBC is guilty of poor reporting or not, the fact is that it exposed a prime minister and a secretary of state with no control whatsoever over their private offices; a government that went to war on the flimsiest evidence and was prepared to character assassinate one of their most respected and senior experts to protect their position. Nigel L, UK

I'm coming to see David Kelly as a decent man whose only crime, at worst, was to be indiscreet in his conversations with journalists. Unfortunately he did this is a climate where the BBC were desperate for dirt on the government over Iraq and the government was desperate to silence any criticism over Iraq. I can only gauge the pressure he came under by imagining what it would take for me to slit my wrists on the woods and cause such pain to my wife, children and friends.
Peter, UK